A documentary that follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at a residential school near Sugar Cane reserve in Williams Lake, B.C. has been nominated for an Oscar.
鈥淪ugarcane,鈥� from Secw茅pemc filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat and Toronto journalist Emily Kassie is up for the best documentary feature award.
The doc is a haunting account of deaths, abuse, suicides and missing children at the former St. Joseph鈥檚 Mission Residential School.
NoiseCat appears in the film with his father Ed Archie NoiseCat, who was born at the facility. The film explores long-standing allegations that priests who fathered children with school residents sent the infants to an incinerator.
Kassie is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated investigative journalist who connected with NoiseCat to work on the film when she began looking into St. Joseph鈥檚 Mission.
Also among the Canadian nominees announced Thursday morning is Quebec-born filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, whose film 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥� is in the running for best picture.
The sequel to 2021鈥檚 鈥淒une鈥� follows Timoth茅e Chalamet as Paul Atreides, who joins forces with Zendaya鈥檚 Chani and the Fremen as he seeks revenge against those who destroyed his family.
Montreal's Patrice Vermette and Dartmouth, N.S.'s Shane Vieau, who worked on the film's production design team, also received a nomination for production design.
Meanwhile, Toronto鈥檚 Linda Muir has been nominated for best costume design for her work on 鈥淣osferatu,鈥� Robert Eggers鈥� remake of F.W. Murnau鈥檚 1922 silent film.
Muir has worked in film, television and theatre since the 1970s, and has Canadian Screen Awards for her work on Atom Egoyan鈥檚 1994 erotic thriller 鈥淓xotica鈥� and John Greyson鈥檚 1996 drama 鈥淟ilies.鈥�
She鈥檚 worked with Eggers on previous horror films, including 2015鈥檚 鈥淭he Witch鈥� and 2019鈥檚 鈥淭he Lighthouse,鈥� as well as his 2022 historical action film 鈥淭he Northman.鈥�
Another "Nosferatu" creative 鈥� Newmarket, Ont.'s Traci Loader 鈥� is part of the team up for best makeup and hairstyling.
The 97th Academy Awards will take place March 2 in Los Angeles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2025
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
